Bottle closure sealing band



March 28, 1939. i A B COLBY 2,151,689

BOTTLE CLOSURE SEALING BAND Filed April 29, 1936 Patented Mar. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE cLosURE sEALlNc BAND Sylvania Application April 29, 1936, `Serial No. 76,881

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a sealing band for bottle closures or the like formed of a strip of material disposed as a substantially cylindrical band and held in such position by securing means disposed at an overlapped portion of the strip.

Sealing capsules, caps and bands have heretofore been utilized, most of which have been of a type including a pair of parallel incisions circumscribing the cap or band along a line inter- 10 mediate the top thereof and the lower edge portion which is generally spun under an annular projection on the receptacle being sealed, the incisions terminating in a tab and providing a tear strip, defined by the incisions, and adapted to sever the top portion of the seal from the spunon portion to permit removal of the closure.

A sealing band commonly employed is illustrated in the patent to Emerson Hogg, No. 1,908,245, issued May 9, 1933. In this seal, weakened portions are provided which are ruptured upon the application of axial force resulting from the attempted removal of the closure from the receptacle to which it is applied.

In both of the above structures, the sealing means is formed as a hollow cap or sleeve which requires drawing and forming operations in the process of manufacture. It is an object of my invention to provide a seal for bottle closures formed of a strip or ribbon of material which may be procured in indefinite lengths at low cost and which may be shaped into a preformed seal Without the necessity of any drawing operation. A further object of my invention is to provide a strip type seal in which the strip is secured as a substantially cylindrical band by means of an integrally formed securing device or seal, thus obviating the fabrication problems incident to the assembly of component elements. Another object of my invention is to provide a sealing band 4 in which the sealed joint is so constructed and arranged that any attempted surreptitious removal or opening thereof will result in severance of a portion of the material forming the band, thus breaking the seal and preventing its refor- The closure seal of the present invention is adapted for use with various types of bottle closures including corks, either plain, anged, wood or composition topped, metal or molded closures and the like, and comprises essentially a strip of material such as light weight sheet aluminum of a rupturable character disposed as a substantially cylindrical band and having an inwardly, radially extending flange adapted to lie in engagement with the closure to be sealed and a deformable portion of the skirt of the band lying under an annular projection, such as a bead, on the receptacle to which the closure is applied, thus sealing the closure with the receptacle. Means are provided for securing the band at an l5 overlapped portion thereof, the securing means being of such nature that the seal may be broken upon the application of straining stress applied through a digit engageable portion or tab. In my preferred embodiment, a portion of the mate- .10 rial of the band is scored or otherwise weakened so that such portion is ruptured upon digital force applied through the tab in the vicinity of the securing means.

One embodiment of my invention is illustrated A15 in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bottle having a closure sealed with the sealing band of my invention; and

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 20 II--II of Figure 1.

In the illustrated embodiment, the closure for the receptacle 2 comprises a cork 3 provided with a flanged wooden top 4. The sealing band 5 of my invention comprises a generally cylindrical 25 skirt portion 6 and an inwardly, radially extending flange 1 lying in engagement with the wooden top 4. The band 5 is formed of a strip of material of a length slightly greater than the circumferential length of the nally formed band and 30 is overlapped at 8 a distance sufficient to permit sealing of the strip. The sealing means in the illustrated embodiment comprises an integrally formed hollow rivet including an eyelet 9 formed in the outer ply I0 of the overlapped portion 8 of 35 the strip7 passing through an opening I I provided in the inner ply I2, the eyelet 9 being upset into a ange I3 extending radially of the opening II. This provides a structure in which the flanged portion I3 of the eyelet 9 lies on the interior of 40 the band and is thus protected against nefarious attempts to straighten the flange and thus open the seal, adulterate the contents of the container and reseal it by reflanging the eyelet.

The eyelet may be formed on the inner ply, 45 however, and extend through an opening in the outer ply and be anged therearound, provided the flange be well formed and a rupturable portion be provided so that any attempt to open or straighten out the flange by the application 50 of force thereto through the opening tab will result in severance of the rupturable material.

A separate hollow rivet may be employed in place of the integrally formed seal shown in the drawing. As pointed out above, however, the use of 55 operation to deform the lower edge of the band under an annular projection on the bottle. In the embodiment illustrated, the'seal shown is applied to a bottle with the lower portion I4 of the skirt 6 of a sealing band lying under a flange I5 on the bottle. In order to permit spinning, the material should be reasonably ductile. Aluminum strip of from .005 to .010 of an inch in thickness has been found suitable for this pur- 'I'he dotted line I6 of Figure 1 represents a score line defining a rupturable portion formed ofthe material of the inner ply I I of the overlapped portion of the band, the score line I6 extending from an exposed edge I1 of the band, around the rivet or seal and extending again to the exposed edge I1. The rupturable portion may circumscribe the sealing means Without terminating in a free edge of the strip but it has been determined that severance of the rupturable portion may be more conveniently effected and with less effort if the severance lines are substantially in the direction of the applied force. In order to unseal the band 5, a digit engageable tab I8 is provided which, upon being pulled toward the left, Vas shown in Figure 1, will sever the'material of the inner ply II along the score line I6, and, since the overlapped plies are joined only by the securing means, one portion of which is removed with the rupturable portion, the seal Vis broken upon such severance. It will be obvious that any attempt to straighten the flange I3 by theV application of straining stress thereto will result in severance along the scored portion I6 and thus tampering with the contents of a container sealed with my sealing band is impossible.

In place of an integrally formed seal'such as the riveted eyelet type shown in the drawing, any other suitable seal may be provided which holds the overlapped portions sufciently securely that the application of straining stress thereto will result in severance of a weakened portion in the vicinity of the seal, rather than effecting opening up of the sealing means. TheV weakened or scored portion may be provided in either the inner or outer plies, but, for appearance sake, the inner ply is preferably scored. If the scored portion embraced the eyelet 9 and were formed in the outer ply I0, the sealing band would operate in the same manner and as satisfactorily as that shown.

My sealing band provides an easily ,fabricatable structure which requires no involved drawing equipment and may be formed from a ribbon of sheet metal with simple forming operations; provides a seal which is tamperproof and easily applied; and provides a structure which may be completely prefabricated prior to assembly with the closure and receptacle. Y

While I have described certain specific preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the form shown and described but may be otherwise embodied and practiced within the scope of th following claims.

VI claim: y I

1. A sealing band for bottle closures comprising a strip of sheet metal disposed as a substantially cylindrical band with circumferential overlapped portions, an integrally formed hollow rivet joining said overlapped portions, the strip being provided with lines of scoring in the immediate vicinty of the rivet, and a digit engageable portion for applying tearing strain to the scored lines to effect severance from the band of a portion of the material thereof surrounding the rivet to unseal the band.

2. A sealing band for bottle closures comprising a strip of sheet metal disposed as a substantially cylindrical band with an overlapped portion, the inner ply of the overlapped portion having an opening therein and the outer ply having an integral hollow rivet passing through the opening in the inner ply and flanged therearound, a scored portion on the inner ply in the immediate vicinity of the hollow rivet, and a digit engageable portion formed of the material of the band and adapted upon actuation to sever the material of the inner ply along the scored portion to unseal the band'.

3. A sealing band in accordance with claim 2 in which the score lines extend to an exposed transverse edge portion of the material of the strip.

4. A closure seal comprising a strip of sheet metal disposed as a substantially cylindrical band, an inwardly and radially extending ange formed on one edge of the band lying in engagement with the' closure to be sealed, the other edge of the band lying under an annular projection formed on the container to which the closure is applied, and a rupturable seal for joining the band at a circumferentially overlapped portion thereof including an integral, hollow rivet formed with its locking flange disposed on the inner surface of the band, and a severable portion provided in the band in the immediate vicinity of the rivet and surrounding the same which upon severance from the band breaks the joint formed by the rivet and permits removal of the sealing band.

5. A sealing band for bottle closures comprising a strip of sheet metal disposed as a substantially cylindrical band with an overlapped portion, sealing means disposed at the overlapped portion to hold said strip as a substantially cylindrical band, a digit engageable portion for applying straining stress to the strip in the vicinity of the sealing means, there being a weakened portion in the immediate vicinity of the sealing means to facilitate rupture of the strip along a line embracing the securing means upon the application of straining stress by the digit engageable portion.

6. A bottle seal comprising an annulus formed of a narrow strip of sheet metal, the ends of said strip overlapping, there being an aperture in said strip adjacent its inner overlapping end, the metal of said strip in the immediate vicinity of said aperture being weakened, a portion of the metal of said strip adjacent the outer overlapping end thereof extending through said aperture and being flanged against the inner side of said inner end whereby rupture of the metal of said strip in the vicinity of said aperture is necessary when removing the seal from a bottle.

7. A bottle seal comprising an annulus formed of a narrow strip of sheet metal, the ends of said strip overlapping, there being an aperture in said strip adjacent its inner overlapping end, the metal of said strip in the immediate vicinity of said aperture being weakened, a portion of the metal of said strip adjacent the outer overlapping end thereof extending through said aperture and being flanged against the inner side of said inner end whereby rupture of the metal of said strip in the vicinity of said aperture is necessary when removing the seal from a bottle, the outer overlapping end of said strip being provided with a tongue to facilitate such removal of the seal.

8. A bottle seal comprising an annulus formed of a narrow strip of sheet metal, the ends of said strip being in circumferential overlapping relationship, there being an aperture in said strip adjacent one overlapping end, the metal of said strip in the immediate vicinity of said aperture being weakened, a sealing element extending through said aperture and being anged thereabout with the flange disposed within the confines of the weakened area and holding said overlapped ends in sealed engagement, rupture of the material of said strip in the weakened area being necessary when removing the seal from a bottle.

ALLAN B. COLBY. 

